


a knightly prince

by chewdough



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Angst, Azumane Asahi-centric, F/F, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Princes & Princesses, Slow Burn, Unrequited Love, but definitely lol, but more inspired rather than actual medieval, not yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:40:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24897091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chewdough/pseuds/chewdough
Summary: “Wait, b-but aren’t you a knight?”“No? I’m the prince!”Where Asahi gets saved by who he assumes is his knight in shining armor and they fall in love and live happily ever after.(if only it were that simple)
Relationships: Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Nishinoya Yuu & Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Shimizu Kiyoko/Yachi Hitoka
Kudos: 16





	a knightly prince

**Author's Note:**

> i just couldn't wait to write this even though i have other works to update so oops. Enjoy though, no angst just yet :)

It was unusual for Asahi to have a duty-free day. As the heir of the royal family of Northern Karasuno, he had to work hard and learn everything there was to be the perfect prince that everyone would idolize. Honestly, Asahi didn’t particularly hate doing all those princely tasks. They were just tiring sometimes. And today was one of those days, so he did something that wasn’t so ideal and something that would definitely get him in a lot of trouble.

Asahi sneaked out of the palace

Despite its huge interiors, the palace made Asahi feel claustrophobic. Maybe it was the sheer amount of people, or the lack of fresh air, he didn’t know. All he knew was he wanted to get out and feel liberated for once.

Even though Asahi was never directly forced to stay within the walls, it was common knowledge that he shouldn't, especially not alone. So, every time Asahi managed to convince his parents to let him leave, he was always accompanied by his head butler, Ennoshita. However, this time, Asashi was out alone, and it wasn't because he disliked Ennoshita. Ennoshita was actually the most loyal man, and he would always stick to Asahi in times of need, but he would also scold Asahi for being irresponsible if he had been following him right now, and Asahi felt like he couldn’t deal with any of that at the moment.

Asahi had taken a horse with him, riding it across the meadows that seemed to reach forever, and soon, through the forests. Even though it was still early in the day, it was incredibly dark inside of the forest, the trees blocked the majority of the sunlight, casting shadows onto the ground. That, of course, made Asahi nervous, trying to calm himself down as he slowed the pace. He didn’t even know why he entered the forest in the first place when he was such a chicken. 

Suddenly, a grappling hook was thrown out of nowhere, digging into the flesh of the horse. The horse neighed as it stood up on its hind legs in shock, Asahi gripping on the reins, hard, going against the force of gravity as he tried to stay atop. 

_A bandit!_

Abruptly, Asahi felt a body latch onto his back, hands sneaking into the his pockets in hopes of finding something valuable. Before Asahi could try and headbutt the thief that was now locked on his back, the thief held a knife to the his throat, threatening to draw blood. In the meantime, the horse had regained its balance and made its way out of the forest and back into a plain, the light blinding Asahi, who panicked and stupidly let go of the reins. He tumbled into the ground, rolling across the rocky plains while trying to keep the knife away from his throat (how the hell did he even do that?). Luckily, the bandit took much more damage, being the first to directly hit the rocky grounds.****

The velocity wasn’t slowing down too fast, pain surging through Asahi’s skin as the pebbles bounced around them, fortunately most of them rounded. Then Asahi heard a crack, and he wasn’t sure if it was him or the mugger. The knife seemed to fly out of the thief’s hands by now, the thief still hanging on Asahi with one hand and the other reaching out, trying to decelerate the speed. They rolled a couple more times before hitting a big rock, Asahi's head spinning as his whole body ached. Asahi could feel the bruises forming on his limbs and body, head lolling while facing the bright sky. He was never going to come out without Ennoshita again.

Suddenly, the sounds of a horse galloping approached the two barely conscious people. 

“Hey, Sadow! Can ya find your way back by yourself?” the voice called, probably asking the bandit next to him. “This is the prince! We’re gonna get a good ransom out of this, ya hear me?”

Surprisingly, the thief next to Asahi, Sadow, let out a laugh, almost as if he wasn’t in pain.

“Yeah man, get ‘em for us. We’re gonna get a big, big ransom,” Sadow rasped happily and finally choked.

“Hey! Get away from that guy!” a new voice interrupted, coupled with hooves clopping. 

“Huh? What can a puny guy like you do?” the unknown bandit snorted, the sound of feet hitting on the ground. Then another pair of feet hit the ground, landing much more softly and swiftly.

Asahi couldn’t see what was happening, but he heard metal clanging and shouts from his side. Sounds of feet dashing were also heard, combined with battle cries and light feet taps that were pivoting around, probably to dodge the attacks. The prince couldn’t make out who was winning the fight until a cry of victory was heard from the newcomer, and surrendering from the gruff sounding mugger.

“I’m sorry, please let me go,” the mugger pleaded.

“Fine, but don’t bother coming into this territory again,” the winner laughed cheerfully before his voice lowered. “There won’t be a next time.”

“Y-yes!” 

Asahi could feel the desperation of the once-smug bandit as he ran away, and Sadow groaned in defeat beside him and fell unconscious. The prince would’ve felt relieved if he wasn’t scared of being targeted next. Sure, the unknown guy saved him from being taken hostage, but maybe he had an ulterior motive, especially when Asahi was this hurt. However, Asahi could feel his eyes drooping, about to go unconscious when he saw a face hovering above his, wide eyes staring right at him.

The guy had a small stature, much shorter than Asahi himself, with dark spiked up hair that had a blond lock in the center that was left down. He was wearing a knight’s armor, decorated with red and white designs, the colors of the Southern Karasuno. Asahi assumed the knight was a novice (a talented one at that), as the armer wasn’t fitted properly. Yet, it was far too big, and Asahi knew that there were shorter knights, so he felt a little confused. Maybe it was actually his size and the fall made the prince delusional.

The only fact Asahi knew right now was that he had butterflies in his stomach, which didn’t go along with the whole situation at all. It was love at first sight, like he had always imagined while reading the fairy tales where the knight in shining armor would save the princess. It was a plus that the guy was cute.

“You okay?” the knight asked, flashing him a toothy grin. He was _really_ cute.

The prince tried to sit up and introduce himself, but pain consumed him, making him groan. It sounded terrifying. The knight might have actually been a knight, but Asahi was definitely not a pretty princess.

“Guess not,” the knight said as he crouched down with a smile. “Should’ve known. Wait for a bit, okay? We’ll get some help.”

 _We’ll?_ Asahi thought, heart fluttering. He was already whipped for someone he just met.

Asahi could feel himself starting to drift from consciousness, so he let out a grunt of agreement before closing his eyelids.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” was the last thing Asahi heard the knight say before everything went black.

* * *

When Asahi awoke, he felt the soft fabric of a mattress under him. It was the his own bed, and he was back in his room. Since when did he get here? 

Then, the image of the knight that had saved him flashed into his mind, and Asahi could feel himself flushing bright red. How did a guy that small haul him all the way to his home? Or did the knight leave him somewhere and waited for someone to come get him?

Abruptly, there was a knock on the door and the door opened, revealing Ennoshita, who had a worried, but angry, look on his face.

“Asahi! Why did you sneak out without any supervision?” he yelled. “Look at yourself right now!”

Asahi did just that. One of his arms were wrapped in a cast, bandages wrapped from his chest all the way to his torso. Bruises and cuts embellished his body, the deeper ones having patches placed on them, covering the stitches. Shockingly enough, he was lucky that there wasn’t any serious bone damage on his legs it seemed.

“Sorry, I just needed some space, didn’t mean to get mugged,” Asahi said sheepishly. “Forgive me?”

“If you were killed by bandits, I wouldn’t be able to,” Ennoshita sighed. “Especially since you’ve been scheduled to meet the prince of Southern Karasuno.”

“Prince of Southern Karasuno?!” Asahi gaped. That was shocking news. 

There were four sections of Karasuno, divided into north, south, east, and west. The royal family of the north was the Azumane family, the east belonged to the Sawamura family, the west had the Kageyamas, and finally, the south had the Nishinoyas. All of the next heirs of the noble families were well known, faces shown everywhere across the country of Karasuno, except for the next Nishinoya heir. No one had seen his face, or rather, recognized him, as he was hidden from the public and grievously protected, being the last member of the family, apart from his grandfather, who was currently king since the heir’s parents passed away. Despite the reasonable explanations, there were baseless rumors about the heir being too ugly and that he was such a disappointment that his face and first name was never to be revealed. Not that Asahi believed them.

“Mhm. They’re inviting every royal heir in Karasuno to meet him,” Ennoshita explained. “Either to become friends or seek a deeper relationship, who knows.”

“When is it?” Asahi asked, positioning himself against the headboard. “ And Daichi and Suga are going, right?”

“Next week, and yes, Prince Daichi and Prince Suga will be present. Aren’t they close to the Southern Kingdom?”

The prince let out a sigh of relief at the mention of his friends. At least he wasn’t going to be a nervous wreck alone, even if Daichi was going to call him a coward again. Suga wouldn’t be able to side chop him when he was being a ‘negative goatee’ either, since he wasn’t going to be fully healed next week (or maybe Suga will find a way. He was Suga after all). 

“With the people in the castle, yes,” Asahi said. “How’d you know?”

“Well, do you know Tanaka Ryuunosuke? Their head knight?” Ennoshita asked.

Asahi nodded, signaling for the butler to continue. Tanaka was an incredible knight and extremely close with Ennoshita, and everytime the Northern and Eastern Karasuno met, they’d reconnect by chatting and leave the princes alone. Karasuno itself wasn’t that big, so Ennoshita would occasionally visit the buzzed cut knight if given permission by Asahi, which was almost always a yes, unless something came up.

“Well, he’s actually really close to one of the people living in the south,” Ennoshita informed calmly, “and he introduced the guy to both of the princes, and then they got to know everyone.”

“Do you know him too?” Asahi questioned, knowing that Tanaka probably forced the butler to meet his friend too.

“I do, he’s really outgoing. Some southerners are really outgoing.”

That made Asahi nervous. He wasn’t the best at meeting new people, especially when they were flashy people who were really cool and would totally find him boring. Exactly like the people who Ennoshita described. 

“Wait, how do you have more connections to the south than me?” Asahi asked.

“Like I said, Tanaka.”

“Oh.”

“Okay, that’s all,” Ennoshita nodded. “Rest well then, Asahi, you’ll need it.”

The prince laughed. “Thanks. Schedule Yacchan to style me up next week.”

“Already on it.”

“Thanks again, Ennoshita.”

Ennoshita gave him a weak smile and bowed slightly before leaving the room with silence once again. Asahi carefully supported himself with his good arm so he could lie back down onto the bed, letting his thoughts flow freely. As he let his imagination go, he remembered one thing. His knight in shining armor was from the south. Was Asahi going to see him again? The prince’s heart beat harder as he thought of the knight with a sweet smile. God, he was really looking forward to next week.

* * *

**

It was finally the day to leave for the south. Asahi wore a white blouse underneath a dark brown outer coat with golden embroidery that Yachi sewed on herself together with dark pants. The whole outfit was washed a day before and neatly ironed before the prince wore it. For once, Asahi felt confidence in such clothes even with bruises on his face and a broken arm, thanking Yachi vehemently. The blonde lady simply waved it off, saying it was a special event and that she was simply doing her duty, and Asahi could not love her more. 

Unfortunately, even though Yachi was going to the south, she announced that she wouldn't be with the princes and instead, hang out with her girlfriend whom she was dating. Asahi was happy for her, but at the same time he was stunned that she even had relations to the south. Yachi had definitely grown up over the years, getting over her anxiety and moving forward, and the prince was proud, but why did everyone have some sort of connection to the south?

The carriage that was prepared was soon ready to take off, so Asahi, Ennoshita, and Yachi got on and made their way to the southern castle. Ennoshita was wearing clothes in a similar color to the prince, like everyone under the rulers would, in representation of their part Karasuno, except it was less obtrusive so it wouldn’t distract the attention from him. Yachi wore a cute blue dress, sleeves long and the hem of the dress reaching right beneath her knees.

Once they arrived in front of the city gates, prosperous and crowded, Asahi requested for the coachman to stop the carriage so that Yachi could get down. The lady stepped down, a beautiful woman with dark hair, wearing rectangular glasses with a mole beside her mouth held out her hand, and Yachi gladly accepted it. 

“Shimizu!” the blonde said joyfully as she pecked the other woman on the cheek. The dark haired woman smiled fondly and returned one, this time on the blonde’s lips softly, causing Yachi to blush.

“Bye, Shimizu, Yachi,” Ennoshita said, and Yachi grinned while Shimizu returned a small wave and bowed to Asahi. The prince became flustered and tried to stop her, saying it was necessary until they were all giggling.

“See you later!” Yachi said as she looped her arms around Shimizu’s and walked into the market, the dark haired woman leaning against her ever so lightly.

Then the carriage began moving again, eventually reaching the entrance of the palace where they were supposed to be dropped at. The castle had red and white banners hanging on it, like all the other castles, and the wooden door that had been lowered across the moat was made of ebony. 

It was strange seeing the castle. Asahi had only been in the south a couple of times, and the last time (minus the bandit situation) was around three years ago, and since then a lot of things have been renovated. The guards greeted the two northerners politely, someone sent to welcome them leading them inside.

The prince could feel his heartbeat, beating faster from both nervousness and the thought of meeting the knight. Was he inside? Outside? Asahi took in a deep breath to suppress those feelings as they stopped in front of the main room where everyone would be. Ennoshita gave him an uplifting smile before going into the room first. The prince followed suit, adjusting his posture and putting on a nice smile. 

Inside the room were the known heirs, Kageyama Tobio, who had his ever-so-present scowl on his face, wearing a basic blue vest on top of a white blouse with a black outer suit and dark pants, and Sawamura Daichi and Sugawara Koushi, wearing a matching couples’ outfit that consisted of an emerald green suit vest speckled with professional feathery designs at the outer edges. The three of them seemed to have fun conversing with the southerners, even though Kageyama was bickering rather than actually conversing with an orange head. Suga and Daichi were talking to a tall blond man and a green-ish haired freckled man, although the blond didn’t seem to be enjoying the conversation too much. Maybe it was just his face, like Kageyama.

Tanaka stood beside the staircase that seemed to lead to the bedrooms located upstairs, tapping his foot as if waiting for someone. He was wearing a white blouse beneath a green outer suit that was the same shade as the other easterners. Ennoshita was beelining towards the buzz cut man, waving lightly, and Tanaka waved back enthusiastically.

Asahi was the only one that didn’t have anyone to talk to, the smile on his face ingenuine and he felt sweat trickle down his face. Why did everyone have someone to talk to except for him?

In time, Daichi realized that the northern prince had arrived and strided towards him.

“Asahi! You made it,” the dark haired man laughed. “Everything going okay over there?”

“I don’t have anyone to talk to,” Asahi conceded, wiping his sweat off with the back of his palm. “How do you guys know each other so well?” 

“Just kind of happened,” Daichi shrugged. “Maybe you should be less of a coward and come hang out here more.”

“Hey!”

The eastern heir chuckled and punched the other man’s shoulder lightly. “How’s your arm? And everything?”

“They’re fine now,” the brunette said, subconsciously touching his arm. “Someone actually saved me.”

With that, Suga was next to him. “Oh? Who is it Asahi, spill!”

“I don’t know,” Asahi sighed. “But he was a knight and he was really… cute.”

“From where?” the grey haired man asked, a sly smile on his lips. “We can help you out you know?”

“Here,” the northern prince replied.

“Hoho, let’s see how it goes then,” Suga smirked when suddenly a loud yell from Tanaka was heard. 

“I told you to dress up nicely!”

Asahi turned to see what the commotion was and he felt his heart stop, face heating up. It was the knight in all his glory, wearing red crow pajamas, hair down.

“What the hell, why are there so many people here,” the dual haired knight yawned, rubbing his eye.

“I already told you!” Tanaka shouted. “Go change!”

“You know I don’t dress up because no one cares, Ryuu!” the still unknown knight yelled back boisterously. “There’s only me, you, Shouyou, Tsukki, and Yamaguchi most of the time.”

“Ozaki-senpai is right,” the orange head agreed cheerfully. “It’s usually just us!”

“Don’t call me Tsukki,” the blond muttered, although he didn’t look too mad. Maybe he was used to it already.

The dual haired knight grinned. “See Ryuu? Shouyou agrees! And I can call you whatever I want, Tsukki!”

“WELL NOW THEY DO, NOYA!” Tanaka screamed. “All the princes are here!”

The unknown knight’s eyes scanned around the room in realization. “But I’ve met all of them.”

“C’mon bro, please,” the head knight said, giving the dual haired man puppy eyes.

“Fine,” the knight gave in and rushed up to change.

Asahi was speechless and stared from Daichi to Suga. The couple looked back at him with a knowing smile.

“Ozaki, huh?” the grey haired prince smiled wiggling his eyebrows.

“I-” before Asahi could say anything, another thunderous exclamation pierced through the room.

“What did you just call Ozaki, Tanaka?” Ennoshita yelled out a question, eyes wide. It was rare to see the butler lose himself, so Asahi was in awe.

“Uhh,” the head knight winced while Ozaki(?) hopped down the stairs, having changed into a poet shirt underneath a red outer coat with silver linings like the rest of the southerners. Unlike the others, they looked like they had been previously crumpled up though.

“Chikara! Why are you yelling at Ryuu?” the dual haired man asked, smoothing up his now spiked up hair. Just like Asahi had initially seen him. 

“Stop first Ozaki,” Ennoshita said, holding out a hand. “I’ve never heard Tanaka call your name before, and what he called you right now doesn’t sound close to Ozaki at all…”

There was a pregnant pause while everyone tried to recall what Tanaka had called Ozaki(?). 

“Noya…” Shouyou said, snapping his fingers. “That’s what Tanaka called him!”

Tsukki was the next one to break the silence, voicing out everyone’s speculation. “Prince… Nishinoya?”

Everything became quiet, everyone either gaping or looking like they were contemplating life. Asahi included.

“Geez, why’s everyone so shocked? We hang out everyday anyways,” Nishinoya shrugged before his eyes landed right at the northern prince, pointing at him. “And oh, it’s Asahi! I saved you!”

“Wait, b-but aren’t you a knight?” Asahi stuttered, frozen in place and face tinted pink.

“What? No I’m a prince,” Nishinoya laughed. “Should I reintroduce myself then?”

No one replied, half of them still stupefied that they had been hanging around the southern prince himself without even _knowing_ he was a prince. Except Tanaka, of course.

“Don’t be nervous guys, he’s just a prince,” the head knight reassured with chortle.

“Easy for you to say when you knew this whole time!” Ennoshita said, a few nodding in agreement.

“I guess I should reintroduce myself then,” the southern prince said lightheartedly with a loud laugh. “Hi, I'm Nishinoya Yuu, the prince of southern Karasuno and still the same person you guys all know me to be! Don't treat me like I'm a stranger, my name just isn't Ozaki anymore. Please?”

The atmosphere of the room softened, almost everyone finally seeming to process the newly disclosed information. Rigid backs hunched back down slightly when they realized that the southern prince was still the same person they knew.To further change the mood of the room, Suga walked to Nishinoya and patted his shoulder a couple of times.

“So you were under the radar the whole time,” the grey haired prince smiled. “Didn’t know you could do that.”

“Being an invisible prince is hard work, but it's pretty cool to be a free one, unlike you guys. I’m actually surprised no one found out,” Nishinoya said with pride. “Even though Ryuu actually slipped a couple of times.”

“Did he?” Daichi asked, joining into the conversation.

“Yeah! But can anyone actually tell me why everyone’s here?” the dual haired prince asked, eyeing everyone. "Why wasn't I informed?"

“Not sure why you weren't informed, but your grandfather invited us to see you the prince for the first time,” Ennoshita said. “I guess he expected Tanaka to spill it out?”

“Typical intense gramps,” Tanaka grinned.

“Yup, gramp's always pulling this kinda shit,” Nishinoya smiled and turned to the bespectacled blond. "Oh and Tsukki, can I call you Tsukki now that you know I’m your prince?"

“No, you’re still your annoying self, even if you're a prince.” 

“Fine, Tsukishima!”

“Nishi! Noya! Yuu,” Shouyou tested the syllables on his tongue, earning a hit on the head by Kageyama.

“Respect your prince, dumbass,” the raven head said.

“Says the person who keeps putting things on the high shelves 'cause you're mad that Oza- I mean, Nishinoya-senpai drank your milk!”

“That doesn’t count! Milk is precious.”

Everything seemed to go back into place for everyone, the room filled with laughs and giggles, joyful sounds from everyone except for an incredibly perplexed Asahi. What was going on? Why was his knight in shining armor a prince? And how was he so adorable? 

The prince just inhaled and brushed it off. There were a lot of things the northern prince was curious about, but right now he was going to enjoy the time with everyone. There was always a time to get to know Nishinoya better, wasn’t there?

He sure hoped so, even if he was a prince in shining armor instead of a knight.

**Author's Note:**

> Me mentioning more confident yachi everywhere is my aesthetic cuz i luv her.  
> There were glasses in the medieval times, but not the moderns kind, but this is like modern medieval SOOOO yeah


End file.
